1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an assembly and method for air conditioning a motor home vehicle or the like and more particularly but not by way of limitation to the cooling of both the front passenger area and the rear living area using a single compressor source and without the use of an automotive condenser used in conjunction with the vehicle's radiator system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various methods and assemblies have been developed to air condition motor home vehicles or the like. There are two principal refrigeration type air conditioning systems currently employed in such vehicles. The first is an air conditioning system in which the compressor is driven by the vehicle's engine. The second is a separate system which is operable when the vehicle is parked and employs an electric motor-driven compressor, powered by an electric circuit supplied by an auxiliary gas generator or by an outside a-c line voltage source.
These two principal systems are not without problems. The air conditioning unit driven off the vehicle engine is normally sufficient to cool the front passenger area but is not large enough or does not have the capacity to cool the rear living area. Therefore, when the motor home is being driven, the rear living area is not cooled sufficiently. Also because of the size and weight of the motor home vehicle and the large engine horse power required to drive the vehicle, the radiator system coupled with a conventional automotive condenser is often not sufficient to prevent the engine from overheating.
Also when the vehicle is parked, the separate electric motor-driven compressor system driven by an a-c line voltage source is designed to cool the rear living area and is not sufficient to cool the front passenger area. If there is no a-c line voltage available, the rear living area is not cooled.
The present invention anticipates and eliminates the above problem by installing two over-sized condensers on the roof of the vehicle so that the heat transfer medium being compressed by the engine driven compressor can be condensed by the over-sized condensers on top of the roof and conducted to the evaporators installed under the dash of the front passenger area and installed in the rear living area, thus cooling both areas sufficiently without overloading or overheating the vehicle engine. Because of the separate over-sized condensers more efficient heat transfer mediums can be used and more particularly but not by way of limitation refrigerants such as Freon 22 can be used which heretofore could not be used efficiently in automotive air conditioning applications. It should be mentioned that the term over-sized is used in reference to automotive condensers which normally have two rows of condenser coils while the oversized condensers have four rows of condenser coils. By going to oversize condensers an over-condensing effect is created which keeps excessive head pressure down when using refrigerants such as Freon 22 which has a lower boiling point than standard refrigerants used with automotive equipment.
Also, if for some reason the engine driven compressor cannot be used and an auxiliary a-c line voltage gas generator is provided for on the vehicle, both the front passenger and rear living area can be cooled while the vehicle is being driven.
If there is no alternating current line voltage available when the vehicle is parked, the vehicle engine can be started and idled so that the rear living area can be air conditioned.
A further problem with separate air conditioning systems driven by an auxiliary gas generator or by an outside a-c line voltage source is that the a-c motor-driven compressor, condenser and evaporator are mounted together as a unit and normally positioned over a fresh air opening in the roof of the motor home. This requires extra roof reinforcement around the fresh air opening, the overall height is a disadvantage because the compressor is not recessed in the roof, and the compressor and condenser blowers cause excessive noise to the people in the rear living area.
By the present invention, the condenser and compressor are separate from the evaporators. The roof-mounted a-c motor-driven compressor and the heavy duty condensers are installed over a closet with the compressor being recessed in the closet with the advantage of the noise being suppressed in the closet. No additional reinforcement is required in the roof due to the reinforcement construction of the closet structure and the air conditioning plumbing can be hidden in the closet. By recessing the compressor in the closet the minimum overall height of the vehicle can be maintained.